The book describes and analyses how environmental issues are regulated in several federal, regional and unitary systems and in the European Union. The comparative analysis reveals common trends towards a multi-layered environmental governance, cross-cutting traditional distinctions among different state models. In the second part, the case study of the management and protection of water resources is selected and analysed in the same legal systems. Disaggregating environmental protection into more specific competence fields allows trends and challenges to be tested The book casts light on the relationship between the state models as to the division of powers and environmental governance. It develops theoretical and practical foundations of contemporary, multi-level environmental law and challenges consolidated approaches in federal studies.

The book aims at understanding the current distribution and use of powers over the environment among various layers of government and their consequences on environmental protection, comparing federal, regional and unitary State models and drawing theoretical and practical consequences.

The literature on Multi-level governance (MLG), an approach that explicitly looks at the system of the many interacting authority structures at work in the global political economy, has grown significantly over the last decade. The authors in this volu

Accounting for participation, separation of powers and democratic accountability, federalism gains momentum in times when traditional democratic legitimacy of institutional decision-making is challenged. Its ability to include multiple interests makes federalism a means to ensure good governance. Based on a multidisciplinary analysis, the book tackles the question of whether federalism as a pragmatic governance tool provides answers to current challenges and what those answers are. Thirty-three leading experts critically examine to what extent federalism serves this purpose in compound states, looking at different countries and policies. The volume revolves around five sub-themes: ‘federalism, democracy and governance’, ‘participation mechanisms and procedures’, ‘policy areas compared’, ‘institutional innovation and participatory democracy’ and ‘federalism: from theory to governance’.

Rapid environmental change calls for individuals and societies with an ability to transform our interactions with each other and the ecosystems upon which we depend. Adaptive capacity - the ability of a social-ecological system (or the components of that system) to be robust to disturbances and capable of responding to changes - is increasingly recognized as a critical attribute of multi-level environmental governance. This unique volume offers the first interdisciplinary and integrative perspective on an emerging area of applied scholarship, with contributions from internationally recognized researchers and practitioners. It demonstrates how adaptive capacity makes environmental governance possible in complex social-ecological systems. Cutting-edge theoretical developments are explored and empirical case studies offered from a wide range of geographic settings and natural resource contexts, such as water, climate, fisheries and forestry. • Of interest to researchers, policymakers and resource managers seeking to navigate and understand social-ecological change in diverse geographic settings and resource contexts